Annie Leibovitz 2
Annie Leibovitz
When I think of a woman that has influenced my photography I turn to Portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz. Born in 1949 in Waterbury, Connecticut, Annie Leibovitz was moved around the country with her family because her father had re-enlisted in the military. She was two, and for the next continuing decade she was constantly moving and changing locations and finally settled not to far from M.I.C.A. in Silver Springs, Maryland where she attended high school. After graduation she enrolled in the San Francisco Art Institute intent on studying painting. It was not until she traveled to Japan with her mother the summer after her sophomore year that she discovered her interest in taking photographs. When she returned to San Francisco that fall, she began taking night classes in photography. Time spent on a kibbutz in Israel allowed her to polish her skills further and allowed her to create a series of photographs on the subject of “The Family”.
In 1970 Leibovitz approached Jann Wenner, founding editor of Rolling Stone, which he 'd recently launched and was operating out of San Francisco. Impressed with her portfolio, Wenner gave Leibovitz her first assignment: shoot John Lennon. Leibovitz’s black-and-white portrait of the Beatle and that photograph appeared on the cover of the January 21, 1971 issue. In 1972 Rolling Stone sends her on tour with The Rolling Stones to take Photographs for an article by Truman Capote, and in 1973 when she was just twenty-four years old was named Rolling Stone chief photographer.
Leibovitz also served as the official photographer for the Rolling Stones ' 1975 world tour. While on the road with the band she produced her iconic black-and-white portraits of Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, dancing, rocking out and singing on stage. Leibovitz said in her book, American Music “It seemed to me that a concert was the least interesting place to photograph a musician. I was interested in how things got done. I liked rehearsals,
When I think of a woman that has influenced my photography I turn to Portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz. Born in 1949 in Waterbury, Connecticut, Annie Leibovitz was moved around the country with her family because her father had re-enlisted in the military. She was two, and for the next continuing decade she was constantly moving and changing locations and finally settled not to far from M.I.C.A. in Silver Springs, Maryland where she attended high school. After graduation she enrolled in the San Francisco Art Institute intent on studying painting. It was not until she traveled to Japan with her mother the summer after her sophomore year that she discovered her interest in taking photographs. When she returned to San Francisco that fall, she began taking night classes in photography. Time spent on a kibbutz in Israel allowed her to polish her skills further and allowed her to create a series of photographs on the subject of “The Family”.
In 1970 Leibovitz approached Jann Wenner, founding editor of Rolling Stone, which he 'd recently launched and was operating out of San Francisco. Impressed with her portfolio, Wenner gave Leibovitz her first assignment: shoot John Lennon. Leibovitz’s black-and-white portrait of the Beatle and that photograph appeared on the cover of the January 21, 1971 issue. In 1972 Rolling Stone sends her on tour with The Rolling Stones to take Photographs for an article by Truman Capote, and in 1973 when she was just twenty-four years old was named Rolling Stone chief photographer.
Leibovitz also served as the official photographer for the Rolling Stones ' 1975 world tour. While on the road with the band she produced her iconic black-and-white portraits of Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, dancing, rocking out and singing on stage. Leibovitz said in her book, American Music “It seemed to me that a concert was the least interesting place to photograph a musician. I was interested in how things got done. I liked rehearsals,
Cited: Leibovitz, Annie. Dancers. 1992. New York. Photograghers At Work. By Constance Sullivan. Smithsonian Series. New York: Smithsonian P, 1992. Leibovitz, Annie. Photographs. 1st ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1991. 6-231. Leibovitz, Annie. Stardust. 2000. Louisana Museum of Modern Art. Star Dust Annie Leibovitz 1970-1999. Louisana Museum of Modern Art. Lousiana: International Center of Photography, 2000. Liebovitz, Annie. AMERICAN MUSIC. 1st ed. Toronto: Random House, 2003. 5-262.